Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become Leader of the Pack (Book Review)

In an economy that prides itself on being led by big business and academy-prescribed strategy consultancies like Harvard Business School, 10% of small businesses fail every year and 60% close within six years.

According to author Donna Fenn, there are seven reasons for this, from corporate backlash to consumer lust for luxuries. In “Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack,” the author consults with eight small businesses located in different regions of the US that have used certain strategies to outshine their competition and prosper, and broadcasts those strategies to your readers. These eight businesses have prospered despite their stories of failure and have learned how to get ahead in the highly competitive business world.

In the book, Fenn has focused on these eight businesses: Zane’s Cycles, a bike shop; Dorothy Lane Market Inc., three supermarkets; Auctioneers and Auction System Appraisers; Amy’s Ice Creams, 12 ice cream shops; THOR.LO Inc., maker of sports-specific socks; Dancing Deer Baking Company (Boston); PR Consultants Group Inc., an alliance of 34 public relations firms; and Mike’s famous Harley-Davidson Inc.

Most of the advice from these leading employers has to do with training employees, creating a workplace that attracts workers, attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, being bold and fearless, good service, forming alliances, adapting to the new technologies of the times, continually reinventing, adjusting innovations and keeping it close to home while updating wisely.

In the book there is a section for each company that ends with ten tips from its entrepreneurs. In the last chapter, the author summarizes the valuable marketing lessons of entrepreneurs, which she calls the DNA of the alpha dog.

Fenn’s writing style is direct, clear, conversational, and peppered with quotes from businessmen: “‘When you’re comfortable, you’re never performing at 100%,’ says Dave Barr. Could be Schwartz’s mantra. Mike’s Roadside Rest had earned him praise from the press…”

The author, Donna Fenn, has been writing as a contributing editor on entrepreneurs and small business trends at Inc. Magazine for more than 20 years. In 2001, she was a co-recipient of the Women’s Economic Roundtable Entrepreneurial Award, sponsored by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Monthly, Working Woman, and many other publications.

“Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack” is a 224-page hardcover and ISBN: 0060758678. After the foreword and introduction, it has ten chapters followed by acknowledgments, sources, and an index.

If you already know how to succeed in business or have an MBA, but especially if you don’t, “Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become Leader of the Pack” should be the book to choose because of its valuable advice worth the sorrow. several years of serious study. The information contained in this book can give a great boost to any company.